Epidural or Natural

I've had three with epidurals and one natural (well..two with the miscarry at 13 weeks). With me, the epidurals always were wearing off by the time baby started crowning so I still felt some, but not much. I always told my sister she was my hero for having five births all natural, one was even a UC homebirth-so she's still my hero lol. My last baby I was bound and determined to do it all natural-mostly because the hospital staff showed me the billing charge for the epidural-$3k for one shot. Jiminy! I don't remember every detail of those first three, my last-it's a little fuzzy right after, but I can remember it. And that's priceless to me. I'm never going back to an epidural again. The freedom to move around, to pee without a catheter, to eat whatever I wanted-that helped SO MUCH. But I completely understand those who want an epidural. On a funny side, the anesthesiologists were happy to hear that their services weren't needed because the first time I got an epidural the doctor scarred my lower back pretty good so it made it harder for the subsequent two to get in the right place-and yes, they peeked in to tell me this while I was in labor with the baby. LOL

I had an epidural, make that two with my first and had a sore back for months, plus it didn't even work, I don't even remember asking for it because I was under the influence of the first drugs they gave me (demerol or something). From number three on I've had no pain meds and prefer it that way. Congrats to your sister on her UC homebirth, my seventh was unassisted, the midwife missed him by 5 minutes! It was so empowering to have gone through that. It makes you feel like you can do anything! ;)

When you talk about the freedom to move around I totally get it. The worst part about labor to me was being confined to a bed. I wish I hadn't had the epidural in hindsight because I had an overwhelming desire to get up and MOVE. I think I would have been much more comfortable.

I guess my epidural story sounds way different from most ladies.. mine happened so so fast so not moving wasn't a problem :) I was given my epidural at 9pm and by 11:25pm our little guy was born.. eek!

That's how my two older girls were. With my son it stopped labor and he tried to come out facing left instead down. I specifically remember the nurse telling me if I hadn't gone with an epidural we could have got him to turn.

I had an epidural with all three of my pregnancies. I was also in labor for 16 hours with my first two and 8 hours with my third. What I did feel of my contractions were intense and I kept thinking that it would be so hard for me to concentrate on what I needed to do to get the baby out safely if that's all i could think about. I was always curious about going natural and even thought about doing it with my third but I wimped out and nerves got the best of me. In retrospect that would have been the best one to do it with. That labor was a breeze compared to my first two and it only took me a good 5-6 pushes to get that 8lb 15oz baby out lol. Maybe down the line if we have another baby I will find my inner strength to just go for it.

I was on the fence about it until we talked to patient financial services and they showed us the cost for the epidural. But I thought I would wimp out, too. I didn't have the feeling of 'I can't do this' until I was pushing and by then there was no choice.

*Pregnancy Team Player here at moms.com* I'm a stay at home mom to five and housewife. We are old fashioned it pretty much everything we do and still learning. Naturally-minded. Owner of the blog Stay at home Wife and Mom.